Cinema Verite: The Film of Tomorrow

"The film of tomorrow will look like the person who made it."-Francois Truffaut

In Reel Life: Do you dress like you're the star in your own movie?  I know my clothes have to function, but I like it when there do more than just get around town. I like it when the details play a starring role- a clever mix of print, say a cheetah print and crisp vintage gingham. I still need comfort, but I want to stand out, not fade in the background. I can appreciate an articulated, artful way dressing, I like dressing like a character straight out of an Art-House movie.  Let's face it, I like the look of drama.

Photo Source: HERE

When I first saw Citizen Kane, I was certain that never in my life have I loved a person the way I loved that film."*

In Real Life:  It's been said that life imitates art, and so our way of dress is often influenced by what we see on the big screen. Think: Annie Hall. Think: Bonnie and Clyde.  Think: that emerald green gown Keira Knightly wore to dramatic effect in Atonement. Movies, and the costumes in them can alter the way we dress for our everyday lives. Which can be a good thing. Sometimes, you can find the perfect expression for yourself in something you've read, or heard, or seen on the big screen. Like Michel in Goddard's Breathless, who dresses and takes on the mannerisms of Bogart. He imagines himself as a character out of a movie. Perhaps we all do. Perhaps we do it to distract ourselves from the mundane part of living and seek to color it up by playing it larger than life.

The film of tomorrow appears to me as even more personal than an autobiographical novel, like a confession, or a diary.*

The sartorial Auteur: Truffaut predicted that future film would be relayed in the first person- that the movies seen would be scenes taken out of one's own biography. This seems more true today than in Truffaut's time. Are we not dressing for our own starring role in our own personal reality show? Hasn't the internet opened up a channel for everyday sorts such as ourselves to be cast as leads in our own main feature? Networks such as Chictopia, Lookbook, Instagram, and even YouTube- aren't they all a possible means of providing a screen for us to potentially shine? 

As we play our cameo role, we dress the part. 

The film of tomorrow will be an act of love.*

And hopefully love what we wear. After all, it's your life, and you're the director, the screenwriter and the star.

Movies to dress by: 

Movies with the best wardrobes. The following is a list, by no means complete, of some of my favorite classic art-house movies with the most stylish costumes. 

• Pale Flower
• Le Samurai
• Breathless
• Belle Du Jour
• 8 1/2, and it goes without saying..
• Citizen Kane

 

*quotes referenced are taken from Truffaut's  The Films in My Life

Worn in this feature: the Josie in cheetah by Karina Dresses, vintage raincoat.

Disclosure: There are links on this page that may take you to affiliate links.  Clicking on those links may result in a commissioned compensation to me from purchases made. For more information on my disclosure policy, please click HERE.